Montague
Gates was born on 16th
November 1882 although the date he gave on enlisting with the Royal
Navy was 1st September 1880. He enlisted
on 6th September
1898, to all intents and purposes, 18 years and five days old. In fact he was 15 years old.
He
was the son of William and Sarah Gates of The Green, Chailey and appears on the
1891 census living at the family home on Chailey Green. The family
comprised William (a bootmaker), his wife Sarah, Montague (aged eight) and
Harry Gates (aged one). Harry would later be killed in action during the
First World War.
He
is described on his naval papers as being five feet, five inches tall with
light brown hair, hazel eyes and a fair complexion. He also had a number of tattoos (although
whether this information was added when he joined up as a fifteen year old, or
whether the tattoos were added later on in his service is unclear). In any event, the following designs are
noted: Japanese lady, snake and peacock on right arm, necklace of leaves around
neck, flowers and face in leaf on left arm.
He gave his occupation as page boy.
On
enlistment, Montague Gates was posted to HMS St Vincent , a boys’ training
establishment, and given the rating of domestic, 3rd class. His subsequent long service record reads as
follows:
HMS St Vincent: 6th September 1898 – 8th November 1899
HMS Arethusa: 14th November 1899 – 3rd April 1903
(Promoted to Domestic 2nd class on 20th May 1900)
HMS Duke of Wellington: 19th – 21st May 1903
HMS Nelson: 22nd May 1903 – 2nd February 1904
(rating is stoker 2nd Class, from 22nd May 1903)
HMS Hannibal: 3rd February 1904 – 27th February 1905
HMS Firequeen [?]: 28th
February – 31st March 1905
HMS Victory I (Portsmouth): 1st April – 8th May 1908
HMS Canopus: 9th May 1905 – 8th March 1907 promoted
to stoker 1st class on 1st July 1906)
HMS Victory: 9th – 12th
March 1907
HMS Mercury: 13th – 18th
March 1907
HMS Britannia: 19th March 1907 – 28th October 1910
(rating is telegrapher, effective from 20th November 1907 and then leading telegrapher
from 4th August
1910)
HMS Victory I: 29th October – 13th December 1910
HMS [unclear]: 14th October 1910 – 10th January 1911
HMS Neptune: 11th January 1911 – 26th January 1912
HMS Vernon: 27th January 1912 – 3rd May 1912
HMS Neptune: 4th May 1912 – 9th March 1914 (promoted
to petty officer (Tel) on 18th
May 1912)
HMS Iron Duke: 10th March 1914 – 15th February 1917
(promoted to acting chief petty officer on 31st May 1916)
HMS Queen Elizabeth: 16th February – 7th May 1917
HMS Victory II: 8th May 1917 – 15th January 1919
(promoted to chief petty officer on 8th May 1917)
HMS Victory I: 10th January – 3rd February 1919
HMS New Zealand: 4th February 1919 – 18th March 1920
HMS Victory I: 19th March 1920 – 8th March 1921
For
his work during the Battle of Jutland, Montague Gates was advanced to the next
higher rating (chief petty officer); effective from the date of the battle
itself: 31st May
1916. On 27th
October that year he was officially commended for his service in that action. During his time with the Royal Navy he
received three good conduct badges (21st May 1906, 20th May 1911 and 20th December 1912).
His
record is interesting, not only for the number of ships he served on but also
for his transfer from the rating of stoker to that of telegraphist and it is
possible that he answered a call for volunteers to train on the new
technology. The role of a stoker and
that of a telegraphist were very different but the transfer was approved on 20th November 1907
and Gates obviously excelled in it.
He
signed on with the Royal Navy for 12 years on 22nd May 1903 and then opted to
complete 20 years (in order to obtain his pension) on 22nd May 1915. As well as his general Great War entitlement
medals, Gates was also awarded the Long Service Good Conduct medal.
The
following information is largely taken from www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk and gives a brief
background on some of the ships on which Montague served:
HMS Duke of Wellington
The once famous flagship of Sir Charles Napier.
Relegated to harbour service as one of the depot ships for berthing the men of
the Portsmouth Dockyard Reserve. Sold in
1904.
HMS Hannibal
HMS
Hannibal.
Royal Naval battleship of the Majestic Class. HMS Hannibal was refitted
and converted to burn oil fuel as well as being fitted with fire control in
1906. Recommissioned in the Channel Fleet Reserve in October 1906 and
transferred to Davenport
as part of the Home Fleet in July 1907, remaining there until 1914. During this
time she struck a submerged reef off the Devonshire
coast in August 1909 and collided with TB105 in October that same year.
She was refitted and served as guard ship of the Humber
from 1914 and later went to Scapa Flow.
She was then converted to a troop ship, being disarmed at Dalmuir to provide
12in turrets for Prince Eugene
and Sir John Moore,
moving to the Mediterranean in September
1915. From 1916 - 1919 HMS
Hannibal served in the East Indies
and in Egypt
and was sold in January 1920.
Armament: four 12 inch guns, twelve 6 inch guns, sixteen 12 pdr guns,
twelve 3 pdr guns, 2 maxims, two 2pdr boat guns and five torpedo
tubes. Displacement: 14,900 tons. Speed: 16.5
knots. Complement: 757.
HMS Canopus
HMS
Canopus
was built at Portsmouth
dockyard, laid down on the
4th January 1897, launched 21st June 1898 and completed December 1899. Only one
of the class to serve in the Mediterranean fleet instead of the China station
until returning to the Channel fleet in 1906 and in that year went into refit
to receive fire control. Further refitting was done while with the
reserve at Portsmouth
with reduced crew in 1908-09. On returning to the fleet she served as the
parent ship for the 4th Division at the Nore and was with the home fleet from
May 1912 and again refitted at Chatham
dockyard. In 1913 HMS Canopus
was stationed at Pembroke and at the outbreak of the Great War joined the 8th
battle squadron of the Channel Fleet. Soon after she was sent to the Falkland Islands and is said to have fired the first shot
in the battle of the Falkland islands.
From February 1915 she was sent to the Mediterranean
to support the Dardanelles' expedition. While
there she was damaged by Turkish gunfire on the 28th April and 2nd May 1915. She
was involved in grounding off Gaba Tepe. In October 1915 she transported
troops to Salonika. She returned to
Chatham Docks on Tuesday 2nd
May 1916. On returning to Britain she became the guard ship
on the East Coast until 1918 when she was sent to Devonport. There she
became an accommodation ship until being sold to the breakers in 1920 .
Displacement: 12,950 tons. Length: 410 ft. Beam:
74 ft. Draught: 26.5 ft. Complement: 750.
Armament: four 12 ins guns, twelve 6 ins guns, ten 3 ins guns, six 3 pounder
guns and two maxims with four torpedo tubes.
HMS Britannia
HMS Britannia was a Royal Naval battleship of the King Edward VII, Class. Sje
first saw service with the Atlantic fleet in December 1906, moving to the
Channel Fleet in February 1907, joining the 2nd Division of the home Fleet as
Flagship of Vice admiral in April 1909. While serving with the 2nd
division she joined the Mediterranean fleet for a short period of time before
returning. At the start of World War One, Britannia joined the 3rd battle Squadron of the
Grand Fleet. But In January 1915 she ran aground at Inchkeith suffering
major damage. On the
9th November 1918 she was torpedoed by UB50 off Cape
Trafalgar. Crippled she remained afloat for three and half hours
before sinking. She sustainted a number of casualties due to toxic fumes.
Armament:
Four 4 inch guns in pairs, four
9.2 inch guns in singles, ten 6 inch guns in pairs, fourteen 12 pdr guns,
fourteen 3 pdr guns, two maxims and five torpedo tubes.
Displacement: 16,350 tons. Speed: 18 knots.
Complement: 777.
HMS
Neptune
Built at Portsmouth navy dockyard
and launched on the 30th
September 1909. HMS
Neptune was the first British Battleship to be able to fire all ten
of her 12-inch guns broadside, by allowing the two wing turrets to fire across
deck. This though was found to be of little advantage as it placed a heavy
strain on her hull. HMS
Neptune also failed to reach her contractual speed on trials but
did achieve a speed of 21.129 knots during her acceptance trials on the 17th November 1910. In
May 1911 HMS Neptune
became the Flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet and in May 1912
she joined the 1st Battle Squadron. She was still serving in this squadron when
in April 1916 she collided with a merchant ship but was not seriously damaged.
She was at the Battle of Jutland and was reported to have scored several hits
on the German Battleship Lutzow. She did not sustain any casualties during
the action. On the 1st of February she was put into reserve and
eventually scrapped in September 1922.
Displacement: 19,680
tons. Speed: 21 knots. Armament: Ten 12 inch guns in pairs,
twenty 4 inch guns, four 3pdr guns, three 18 inch guns and 3 torpedo
tubes. Compliment: 759.
HMS Iron Duke (pictured)
HMS Iron Duke was built at Cammell Laird in Portsmouth
and launched on the 12th
October 1912. She was the
Flagship of The Grand Fleet (commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe)
After 1931 she became
a Gunnery Training Ship and Base Ship for the Home Fleet between 1939 and 1945.
She was scrapped at Faslane in Scotland
on 19th August 1946.
Compliment 589.
Armament 6 13.5 inch Guns (3 x 2 ) and 12 6-inch Guns . Machinery 4-shaft
Turbines, S.H.P 31,000 giving a top speed of 21.25 knots this was reduced to 18
knots with mutilated boiler power. Displacement 21,250 tons.
HMS Queen Elizabeth
HMS Queen Elizabeth
was a Royal Naval battleship built at Portsmouth in
1913. She served in the Dardanelles
campaign during World War One and during World War Two she was sunk in shallow
water by mines attached to the battleship by Italian frogmen in Alexandria. She was
raised and repaired at Norfolk,
Virginia.
Displacement: 29,700 Speed:
23.0 knots Compliment: 950 and up to 1,220 in 1918
Armament:
Eight
15-inch guns in pairs and fourteen 6 -inch guns. Two 3 inch Anti Aircraft
Guns in 1917, two 4-inch anti aircraft guns.
HMS Queen Elizabeth was built at Portsmouth and re-engined at Fairfield. She was launched on the 16th October 1913. She
was the sister ship to HMS
Warspite, Valiant,
Barham, and Malaya.
HMS Queen Elizabeth
was the only ship of the class to have a full compliment of sixteen 6-inch
guns. She was the only ship of her class not be be involved
during the Battle of Jutland. Her First World War service included being
part of the Dardanelles' campaign. She
bombarded the forts on the Narrows in the
support of the Gallipoli landings between February 25th and May 14th 1915. She fired a total of
86 15-inch shells and 71 6-inch shells. After the battle of Jutland (during which she was being re-fitted,) she
became the flagship of the Home Fleet in February 1917. HMS Queen Elizabeth had two
major refits between the wars. At the start of World War Two she was in
the middle of her second refit at Portsmouth.
Completed and ready for service in May 1941, HMS
Queen Elizabeth was transferred to The Mediterranean Fleet.
It was at Alexandria,
along with her sister ship HMS
Valiant that both ships were mined by Italian Frogmen. HMS Queen Elizabeth sank in
shallow water, was raised and temporarily repaired. Due to the serious damage
she had sustained however, she was transferred to the US Navy Yard in Norfolk where she was
repaired between September 1942 and 1st June 1943.
She joined the Eastern fleet and from January 1944 onwards was joined by HMS Valiant and took part in
the carrier raids in Indonesia
against Japanese bases. She returned to Britain in July 1945 and was
finally scrapped at Dalmuir on the Clyde 7th July 1948.
HMS New Zealand (Indefatigable Class)
HMS New Zealand was taken on a cruise of the Dominions in 1913 before joining the 1st
Battle Cruiser Squadron. She then served with the Grand Fleet in 1914 before
becoming flagship to the 2nd cruiser squadron in 1915. She was built by
Fairfield and was completed in February 1912. In February she left
for a world cruise around the Dominions which took 10 months. She then joined
the 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron on a cruise to the Baltic and then joined the
Grand Fleet in August 1914 becoming the flagship of the 2nd Battle Cruiser Squadron
in January 1915 until February 1915. At the Battle of Dogger Bank she fired a
total of 147 12 - inch shells with out any known hits on the German Ships. She
became Flagship to Admiral Beattie when his Flagship HMS Lion was damaged
during the battle. On the 22nd April HMS
New Zealand and HMS
Australia collided but repairs were carried out in time for the
Battle of Jutland. During the battle she fired 420 shells, (more than any other
Dreadnought during the Battle) but only scored four hits. HMS New Zealand was also hit
by a 11-inch shell which hit a turret (luckily without causing any major damage
or casualties). After September 1916 she again joined the 2nd Battle Cruiser
Squadron and after the war carried Admiral Jellicoe on a tour of the Dominions.
Listed for Disposal under the Washington treaty she was sold for breaking up on
the 19th December 1923.
